High School Football Coach Fired After Reports He Abused Players

posted by Bill Galluccio -

Sep 12, 2018

A high school football coach in Florida has been fired and banned from teaching after accusations he abused players during his tenure at Palatka High School. Randell Gene Owens allegedly head-butted a player and told another player that they should "commit suicide." In a more disturbing incident, Owens reportedly stood on a toilet seat and "peeped over the bathroom stall” while a 16-year-old male was using the bathroom.

Owens was hired by Palatka High School in 2015, despite district officials knowing that he was arrested after being accused of assaulting a student at a high school in Georgia in 2013. Putnam County Superintendent Rick Surrency defended hiring Owens, who also taught gym class and was a dean at the school, telling First Coast News that his "record had actually been expunged."

Owens did not contest the charges levied against him and surrendered his teaching certificate.